The Scars We Choose To Show
by TheAngriestFace
Summary: When Ruby comes home late from a mission, Weiss goes to lecture her on why it is important to come home on time, but when Ruby comes home with bandages over her body, she'll have even more to answer for. Part 1 of The Forgotten Rose (Fluffy Whiterose Mini story with Bumblebee, Arkiros and Renora in the background)
1. Chapter 1

_**The Forgotten Rose**_

 _ **Book I**_

* * *

 _ **The Scars We Choose To Show**_

* * *

She was late. Ruby's mission was supposed to be only two weeks in the Mistral swamplands, then she would be home in time for a nice romantic dinner, a movie and some cuddling before the end of the night where Weiss could finally fall asleep to the smell of roses and strawberries like she grew used to. Instead, Weiss was laying in their bed, staring at the ceiling of the shared house of team RWBY, (Which she paid for) and sighed for the uptenth time that night. It had been, one day, -checking her scroll again- four hours and thirteen minutes since Ruby was supposed to be back. With another sigh, she opened the text message from Ruby:

 _"Going to be a bit later than I thought. Don't wait up! Love you!"_

Her scroll went off and her heart sank. She got that when was supposed to pick up her girlfriend from the docks this morning just as she was about to leave the house, instantly worried about the younger woman, she had to try and find something to occupy her mind while she waited for her to return. Like, cancelling the reservation she had made at their favourite restaurant, giving their tickets to Yang and Blake so they could have a _'date night'_ then proceeded to imagine every possible scenario that would cause Ruby to be delayed so much.

Obviously it wasn't so bad since she got in range of the CCT to get the message out, so she's not in a ditch somewhere, bleeding out from a Grimm that blind sighted her while she was trying to save someone-

 _Stop thinking! it's not helping you sleep at all!_ With another sigh, Weiss turned over in the suddenly too large bed and took a deep breath and held it. She began to count to ten to try and calm her nerves, she only got to four when she heard the front door open. Quietly waiting, her hearing wasn't as good as Blake's superior faunus traits, but she learned everyone's subtle differences when they entered the house.

Blake always hung her keys on the small key rack that was on the wall next to the door, Yang kept her keys in her pockets. Weiss held her breath and waited for Ruby's sign that she had entered the home, keys hitting the expensive stone countertop and sliding against the wall as she tossed them. The echo of metal hitting stone fill her with relief as her girlfriend began to move through the main floor of their house. Quarter after four in the morning, Ruby Rose was finally home.

Getting out of bed, she wrapped herself up in a fluffy white robe and pulled her hair over her shoulder as she left their bedroom and down a small set of stairs. Reaching the landing, Weiss sighed and shook her head as she saw Ruby's large black boots in the main hallway, one laying on the ground while the other stood up, both were covered in mud. Turning just before the hall and into the kitchen, speaking as she turned. "Ruby Rose! Is that where you're boots go?-" Weiss's voice stopped when she saw Ruby standing in the kitchen, frozen in shock as Weiss caught her.

It wasn't the fact that she had a plate of cookies and a peanut butter sandwich on top when Weiss had made her a nice meal that was sitting on the counter with plastic wrap over it. It wasn't the fact that Ruby had two fingers shoved into her mouth, presumably from when she used her fingers as a spoon to shove a mouth full of peanut butter past her lips as she still had the jar in her other hand. Wide blue eyes caught silver as the two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, Ruby was only looking at her with one of her beautiful silver eyes since the entire left half of her face was covered in clean white bandages.

"What happened?" Weiss asked quietly, as she stared at her partner's hurt face. Ruby replied by pulling her fingers out of her mouth and began to talk with a mouth full of peanut butter.

"What?" Weiss asked. She responded in explaining everything that happened to her over the two weeks she was on mission while forming words around a full mouth. Weiss exhaled sharply and closed her eyes, squeezing her hands around an form of her girlfriend in her mind and proceeded strangle her to death before snapping.

"SWALLOW, YOU DOLT!" Weiss yelled at her. Ruby then turned around and grabbed the comically large glass filled with milk that she just had to get while they took a trip to Vacuo to visit Sun a few years ago. Downing half of it in one go, she began to cough and bang her fist against her chest as she choked on her own drink and took a deep breath when her mouth and airway was cleared.

"Hey Weiss!" Ruby said happily.

"RUBY!"

"It's not as bad as it looks!" The black and red haired woman said quickly, remembering why she was being yelled at in the first place.

"What happened?" Weiss asked again as she folded her arms over her chest and waited.

"Well." She began slowly. "I was clearing out an area for potential expansion when a Beowolf came out and attacked me. This thing was old, like, really really old. Ancient, like...centuries-"

"Ruby..." Weiss warned as the younger woman began to ramble on.

"Well, it had really long claws, at least two feet long" She gestured with her hands how long they were. "And it caught my face. But really Weiss! I'm fine, just a little scratch" Ruby said with a reassuring smile. Weiss sighed and shook her head.

"When were you planning on telling me?" She asked as she walked up to Ruby, all anger washed away by sorrow and the need to care for her girlfriend.

"The morning after we woke up. I was just going to have a small snack, shower then crawl into bed with you" Ruby then reached her fingers back into the jar of breakfast spread to get another mouthful before Weiss slapped her wrist. "OW!"

"I made you dinner" She gestured to the prepared plate on the other counter next to the fridge.

"Yeah, but it's got all the gross stuff in it"

"Those are called vegetables, you dolt" Ruby just made a noise and a face as she put the lid back on the jar and set it back into the pantry. Watching her move, Weiss shook her head lightly as she leaned on the counter and eyed her. "Let me see" Weiss said softly. Scarfing down two cookies before she complied, Ruby unclipped the bandage and unwind it slowly, her girlfriend helping a bit. Setting it on the counter, she peeled the bloody gauze off and gasped slightly. A large, sharp line came from her forehead down over her left eye. "Oh, Ruby..." She opened her eye slightly, Weiss gently ran her finger down next to the wound that made Ruby hiss and pull away.

"Careful, its still a little tender" She said softly as she smiled gently.

"Sorry..." She said softly as she shook her head lightly.

"But, getting this cut is actually a really good thing" Ruby said as she bit the sandwich she made herself and smiled lightly.

"How is almost losing her eye a good thing?"

"Because now we match" Ruby said happily. Weiss took another look at the cut and saw that it mirrored her own over her face. Slowly, she traced the decades old scar and stared into silver eyes.

"My scar isn't a fashion statement, Ruby" Weiss said as she shook her head. Ruby took her hand in her own and gently leaned in to give her a kiss to stop her depressing train of thought.

"Weiss, getting this scar made me realise something" Ruby began quietly when she released her girlfriend's lips, much to her displeasure. "Life is so fragile. A single small step could mean the difference between a scar and death, it brought a lot of things to light. Like us" Weiss blinked a few times and let Ruby continue. "We have been together for a long time, ever since Beacon, and our time after it, you've been by my side the entire way. And you know I'm not really much for jewellery or junk like that...so I want this scar to be the symbol of the bond we share with each other now and for the rest of our lives together"

Weiss just stared into those perfect, silver eyes as tears began to well inside hers. Rapidly blinking away the tears as she tried to wrap her brain around what had just come out of her mouth. "Ruby?" She managed to choke out.

"Yes?"

"Did you just propose to me-"

"Yes I did"

"-Using the wound that an ancient Beowolf gave you as a wedding ring, when it could have cleaved your head in half?"

Ruby paused for a moment and thought about it. "When you say it like that, it's not very romantic..." Silence fell again as the two woman just stared at each other for an extended amount of time, making it awkward. "So...is that a no?"

"Ruby Rose" Weiss stammered out, her face turning a bright red. "You are insufferable and I love you!" Ruby just blinked and looked around awkwardly.

"Is that a yes?"

Weiss replied by wrapping her arms around Ruby's neck and squeezed her as tight as she could.

"Yes! You dolt!" She cried out. "Yes yes yes yes yes!" Ruby laughed as she lifted Weiss up in the air and held her close. Pulling away just enough so they could share a passionate kiss with her new fiancee. Breaking for breath, they smiled at each other and was about to go in for another heated kiss when someone other than the two of them coughed rather loudly. Looking over, Yang and Blake were standing at the kitchen entryway with smirks on their faces.

"Aww, and I was hoping to have sex in the kitchen tonight" Yang said with a grin, only for Blake to jab her elbow into her ribs. While the blonde was recovering from the cheap shot, Weiss got off of Ruby and adjusted her robes, clearing her throat as she tried to will the blush from her cheeks. "So, a marriage proposal using matching scars, nice" Yang said as she looked over at Ruby and ruffled her hair slightly.

"I can't be happier for you two" Blake said as everyone have hugs to the newly engaged couple. After a few minutes of casual conversation about Ruby's mission, Yang looked over at her girlfriend and smirked with a raised eyebrow.

"How about it, kitten? wanna get matching scars and get hitched?"

"And where would we bleed?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was thinking about taking one of Ruby's power tools and slicing your arm off, then helping you go through six months of rehab as you learn to work with your new robot arm" Blake just stared at her with disinterested eyes, reached up into Yang's sleeve and found the clasp that kept the metal arm in its socket and released it, causing the heavy limb to fall directly on top of Yang's foot. While She was bouncing around on one foot, trying to collect her arm, Blake walked down the stairs to their area of the house while Yang tried calling after her. "Rude..." Yang said before following her.

Ruby and Weiss just laughed at the scene and headed up to their bedroom, hand in hand as the first rays of the new day began to filter in through the windows.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting in front of the monitor, Ruby idly tapped her fingers on the desk while waiting for her call to connect. Her ability to procrastinate the important things in her life carried over from her youth into adulthood, which landed her in this predicament right now, trying to call someone in Mistral, just after noon. There was always a mission or some modification or rescuing other Hunter teams when things get too hairy for them. With a sigh, she looked over the screen and saw Yang standing with her arms crossed over her chest, standing at the only exit out of the little cubicle, making sure she didn't run away.

She had an amusing look of annoyance on her face, she wasn't too impressed by her procrastination skills, much like her wife-to-be, Weiss. "Yang, is it necessary to play goalie here?" She asked as the small green ball bounced in a small bar on the screen, still trying to connect to the CCT in Mistral.

"Yes" She said said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "You'll just find another way to worm your way out of this. _Again._ "

Ruby sighed and placed her head on the desk with a not so gentle thud. "I know! I'm sorry! But I'm always so busy"

"Too busy to plan your own wedding?" Yang argued with a raised eyebrow. "You're lucky Weiss is a perfectionist and she's planned everything else out"

"I know..." Ruby whined as a long tone sounded out as the call finally connected. Quickly sitting up, Ruby brushed the hair out of her face and smiled at the image of Jaune Arc on the other side of the screen.

 _"Hey, Ruby!"_ He said with a smile and a small wave. His hair had grown out some since last she saw him, still just as scraggly as it always has been. A few faint lines creased the corners of his eyes as he gently waved at her.

"Hey, Jaune. How's it going?" Ruby said with a wave of her own.

 _"Oh, everyone's doing good over here"_ He said with a smile. _"Pyrrha told me about the happy announcement, congratulations"_ He said with a quick gesture over his left eye, making Ruby smile just a little wider as she gently traced the healed scar over her left eye.

"Thanks" Ruby said before taking a deep breath. "Which actually brings me to the reason why I called you" She said with a little more serious tone. Jaune simply raised his eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "I need a best man" Jaune simply blinked a few times while trying to process the request. After a couple more blinks, he looked at her and laughed nervously.

 _"Really?"_ He said in disbelief. _"I mean, don't get me wrong, Ruby. I'm honoured, but shouldn't the best man be your best friend?"_ He said slowly.

"I'm marrying my best friend" Ruby said with a roll of her eyes.

 _"Oh, right. Uh, your sister?"_

"Bridesmaid"

 _"Blake?"_

"Maid of honour"

 _"Wow"_ Jaune laughed a bit. _"Really scraping the bottom of the barrel of your friends now, eh?"_ He said with a small smirk on his lips.

"Jaune, that's not what I-"

A couple of laughs cut her off before she could finish speaking. _"Relax, Ruby. I'm just teasing"_ He said with a smile. _"I'd be honoured, Ruby"_ Ruby smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Jaune" She smiled into the screen as the blond man nodded.

 _"Any time, Ruby"_ He said with a smile. A few seconds later, he furrowed his brow in thought. _"Hang on a sec"_ He said raising his finger and looking at her. _"Isn't the wedding in two weeks?"_

Ruby paused long enough to place her face in her hand and groan out. "Yes..."

 _"You asked me to be your best me two weeks before your wedding?!"_

"I know! I know!" Ruby groaned out as she added her second hand onto her face and slapped her head onto the table. "I'm terrible at planning things!"

 _"Yeah! I noticed. And here I thought you cut it close when handing in your hunter reports"_ He said with a shake of his head.

"How do you know about my reports?" Ruby asked as she looked up from her hands at Jaune.

 _"Weiss talks to Pyrrha regularly..."_

Ruby groaned out louder as she buried her face in her hands again, her forehead making contact with the table. _"At least you gave yourself enough time to get your tuxedo, right? Rental lineups for the good ones are insane"_

The silence from Ruby spoke volumes.

 _"Please tell me you put your order in already..."_ Jaune said cautiously. Again, silence said everything that needed to be said.

"Ruby!" Yang snapped as she stormed over to her younger sister.

 _"Oh, hey Yang!"_ Jaune said happily as Yang came into view, but she ignored him in favour of yelling at her sister.

"You can't honestly believe that Weiss will let you wear your cape to the wedding"

"Why not? it's my wedding?"

"Because she'll kill you, then me for letting you do that" Yang said with a shake of her head. Then stopped her younger sister from speaking with a lift of her metal hand. "And, if you even think about wearing that outfit for the wedding, I'll kill you since it looks like Jaune's suit he wore. And it looked like it belonged to his great grandfather"

 _"Actually, it did belong to my great grandfather..."_ Jaune interrupted with a raise of his finger.

The sisters simply stared at Jaune though the screen in silence before looking back at each other. "Okay. We're going to an expert. Goodbye Jaune" Yang said as she reached over to the console.

 _"Okay see yo-"_ Jaune was cut off before he could finish as the screen returned back to its default logo.

"We know an expert?" Ruby asked as she was dragged out of her seat and into downtown Vale.

"Ruby Rose!" Coco Adel called out as she walked up to the young woman and gently hugged her. She stood awkwardly as the, 'fashion expert', as Yang called her, kissed both of her cheeks. Taking a few steps back to give her a quick look from behind her signature sunglasses. "I have to say, it might not be my product but you still manage to pull off that gothic look after all these years" Coco mused as she raised an eyebrow, throwing the caramel lock to the side.

"Hey, Coco" Ruby said with a small smile as she looked around the large clothing store that team CFVY owns and manages. Its mostly Coco making the clothing while the rest keep it afloat as something at actually turns a profit. Behind her, Yang and Blake entered and looked around and smiled at the other team members as the walked around to help other customers. Yang had insisted on bringing Blake as backup just in case.

"Hey Coco" Yang said with a quick wave. "We need an outfit for Ruby for the wedding. You're still coming, right?" Yang asked as she looked around. Coco didn't take her eyes off Ruby as she nodded. "Of course, you think I'd miss this wedding when _both_ outfits are designed by me?" She said with a small smirk as she turned and waved them to follow her. "Come on, lets see what we can get for you" They walked past a few customers who were looking at some shirts.

Coco had set up a speciality clothing store for Hunters and Huntresses, the material they used was made to be extremely durable material that could stand up against Grimm and semblances and still look great three weeks into a mission that required trudging through knee high mud. Sure they were much more expensive that regular clothing, but a great top that lasted was well worth it, and sometimes Coco gave them the student discount on good days.

Walking towards the back, the massive form of Yatsuhashiwalked up to them. He gave them a polite nod before turning to his team leader. "Coco, you're two o'clock is-"

"Can them, I'm busy" She waved him off without breaking her stride. The large man sighed heavily before turning around and going to tell the customer to reschedule. The look on his face made Ruby wonder if she did that often. Reaching the back room, Coco made her stand on a small stool in front of a row of mirrors that showed her off in several different angles. Yang and Blake found a set of chairs and sat down as Coco began to circle her while tapping her chin, a small tape measure wrapped around her neck.

She then began to take measurements of Ruby's form, stretching her arms out and jotting down the numbers on the back of her hand. "FOX!" She screamed out after a few silent minutes, making everyone jump slightly. "Bring me the white number six!" She called out to the man somewhere. The woman was starting to mumble something before speaking up and looking up at Ruby. "Wait, did you propose or did she?" Coco asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Uh, I did..." Ruby said as she raised her eyebrow slightly and titled her head to look at the woman.

"Oh...Never mind Fox!" Coco called out just as the man in question turned the corner not four feet away with an arm full of white fabric. With a sigh, he turned to put it back where he brought it from, earning a small laugh from Blake who had pulled out a book and started to read it.

"So how's business going Coco?" Yang asked as she watched the woman work.

"Its going. A new school year is always busy for us" She said as she took a step back and tapped her chin. "Velvet, Sweetie! Can you bring me the base black?" She called out, after a few moments the rabbit faunus walked out with an arm full of material and handed it to Coco, who began to drape it over Ruby's shoulders, her suit taking shape.

"Hey guys" Velvet said with a small smile and a wave. "Congratulations again, Ruby" She said with a smile. Ruby smiled back and went to turn to her but was stopped by Coco gripping her hips and forcing her to stay in position as she continued to work, the suit slowly taking shape as Coco ordered Fox for something called red number seven. "Excited for the big day?" She asked as she began to collect scrap piles of fabric that Coco seemed to toss during an earlier session.

"Yeah, I'm getting really nervous though" Ruby admitted as she continued to hold her arms out as Coco began to pin the fabric while writing more measurements in time for Fox to walk towards them.

"No no no Fox. I said number seven! That's eleven. Are you blind?" She asked as she returned to Ruby. Fox simply blinked and looked at her, his blank eyes staring at her in disbelief. Yang struggling not to giggle and failing if it weren't for Blake to tap her shoulder in a light slap.

"Really Coco?" Fox asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Obviously you are if you're wearing that" She said with a gesture in his general direction while still paying attention to what was in front of her. Fox simply shook his head and walked off once more. "I have to say, Ruby. You really filled out great" She said with a smirk as she wrapped some of the material around her waist.

"Easy Coco." Yang warned with a small smile. "She's getting married"

Coco just shrugged it off and continued. "So? I'm in a relationship and slept with others before." She said off handedly. From one of the many piles of fabric, Fox's head slowly popped up and looked over in their direction.

"Who have you been sleeping with other than me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. All eyes shifted over to Coco who shrugged simply.

"Velvet" She said with a point over to the woman. Everyone's gazes moved over to the chocolate haired woman, who's face quickly became red and stood still in embarrassment.

Fox simply looked over at her and raised his eyebrow. "I am okay with this"

With that, Yang and Blake divulged into a fit of laughter as Velvet's face grew redder and tried to hide behind one of the piles of clothing, her tall brown ears the only showing her position. It was always brought a good bout of laughter whenever they started talking about their relationship with each other. After the laughter settled, the outfit was beginning to take shape. It was a simple suit with red under a black jacket. Coco, smiling at her own handiwork tapped her chin slightly while comparing two shades of red. "So, going all out on the ceremony?" Coco asked as she adjusted Ruby ever so slightly.

"No, actually. Weiss wanted something small. Just friends and close family" Ruby said as she looked at herself in the row of mirror, despite wanting to come in in the first place, she really appreciated the work that was going into it. Coco knew exactly what was going to work perfectly on Ruby's form, a few more touches and it would be perfect for her. "Weiss wants to play it close to the chest to make sure she father doesn't show up and ruin everything for her"

The mention of Mister Schnee sobered everyone up rather quickly. He was more than unhappy when he found out that Weiss ran away to help reclaim Vale after the White Fang attack, even stealing money to get Yang her new arm and their shared home. Curiously enough, he didn't revoke her status as his heiress to the company. "We're having at the cliff side in Patch, its going to be great" She said with a smile, remembering that it didn't take much to convince Weiss to have it in front of her mother's grave.

Smiles were shared all around at that news as they continued to watch as Ruby's suit began to take form. Suddenly, Yatsuhashi came up to them with a bit of a hurry. "Uh. Weiss is here looking or her dress" All eyes quickly went from the man down through the door way that lead into the main store, where Weiss was standing with a raised eyebrow, looking at everyone.

Coco quickly pointed to Velvet and snapped her fingers. "Velv! Distraction!" At once, Velvet threw the clothing that she was carrying up in the air and sprinted over to Weiss, literally hopping over obstacles and skidding in front of her, blocking her view to the rest of them.

"Hey, Weiss!" She said awkwardly. "How about some coffee" Weiss simply smirked as her cool blue gaze shifted from Velvet over to Coco and Ruby. She simply smiled back at her girlfriend and have a nervous chuckle.

"Hi, Weiss..." She simply rolled her eyes and began to walk away.

"I'll be back in an hour, Coco. Make it count" She said with a smile and left with Velvet in tow for coffee. They all shared another laugh as Coco began to take the suit to be off of her and nodded.

"Don't worry, Ruby. Everything will be perfect for your big day" She said as she set it down and smiled at them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish up Weiss's dress before she comes back and buys majority shares of my business" Coco have Ruby one last hug. "Congrats again, Ruby. If any of us truly deserve this, its you" With that, Coco retreated to the deep reaches of her work space while the rest of team RWBY went to track down Weiss so they could all have a mid afternoon snack before the rest of the wedding was planned. Ruby wanted everything to be perfect for Weiss, because she deserved nothing less than that.

That afternoon, Weiss and Ruby decided to spend the rest of the day shopping and simply enjoying each other's company. Hand in hand, walking around calmly. In the back of Ruby's mind, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched.


	3. Chapter 3

Today was the day. Today was the day Ruby Rose was going to be married to Weiss Schnee. In just a little while, Ruby would meet Weiss in front of her mother's grave, stare into her beautiful blue and say two magical words and the two of them would be together forever.

And she was freaking out.

"Ruby! Calm down" Yang laughed as she sat in her usual chair in their father's living room. her Sister, Yang was dressed in a beautiful blue dress with a white rose pinned to her chest. "You keep pacing like that and Dad'll have to replace the carpet, again" Ruby sighed as she stopped her pacing and let her arms flop to her sides. She was wearing the suit that Coco Adel had crafted for her. A simple black tuxedo with a silk red vest inside and a red tie. A red rose was pinned to her chest. The day previous, Yang had taken her out for a spa day to get her ready for today.

While her hair had grown slightly, she decided that just past her shoulders was long enough to stay out of her way while still doing her job. Looking at her sister, she saw that was staring at her scroll with a grin. "What are you watching?" She asked as she walked over to where she was seated, glad for the distraction. Yang rewind the video and held it up to her. It was from the party a few days ago, Yang thought it was a good idea to have everyone let loose to relax.

On the video was a very inebriated Weiss Schnee holding a mostly empty martini glass. Her hair was a mess and had more than a little bit of spilled drink on her white shirt. She was dancing and waving her free arm around in the air as she moved to the heavy beat of the music in the background. "Weiss" Yang called out to the woman over the music. "I think you've had enough to drink!" Weiss turned around and had an offended look on her face.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked while trying to stay upright.

"Weiss?"

"I am Weiss Schhhhhhhhhhhnee!"

The video continued on with Yang laughing and then stopped. "Weiss will actually kill you if she knew that exists" Yang just laughed as she pocketed the scroll and got to her feet as Taiyang entered the living room with a large smile. Out of everyone who was at the wedding, he was easily the happiest person there, besides her and Weiss of course. For the last few days, he has been grinning none stop as he prepared the house and area for the ceremony.

He was wearing a black suit with a yellow vest under the coat. "Hey" He said with a smile. "How's everything here?" He asked as he looked between his two daughters.

"Ruby's freaking out..."

"I'M GETTING MARRIED!"

Her father and sister just laughed at her rising stress levels for a few moments before he spoke again. "Well, I'm just letting you know that your uncle Qrow just arrived" He said as he walked up to Ruby and adjusted the tie so it was straight.

"Oh, did you-"

He answered her question by pulling a flask out of his pocket and shook it lightly. "Had to twist his arm to get it. And his back-up" He said with a smile.

"Oh, he keeps a second back-up in his sock..." Yang piped up with a small smirk.

"Seriously?" Her father asked. She just nodded and he sighed heavily and left the way he came in, yelling at Qrow to give up his booze. Yang just laughed louder as she shook her head.

It had taken an entire day of bribing Weiss with promises and favours for her to allow her uncle to attend the wedding. The deal breaker was that he was not allowed to drink during the ceremony. The after party was another story. Ruby sighed and ran her hand through her hair to try and calm down when Velvet knocked on the door frame and smiled at them. There was a unanimous decision for Velvet Scarlatina to be the wedding photographer.

"Hey Ruby" She said with a smile. She was wearing a simple light brown sundress with a dark brown sash across her waist. Her camera in her hand as she raised it up and took a quick picture of her. "You look great" Ruby was getting a little embarrassed with how many people were complimenting her on her outfit. With the Adel logo stitched into the tag, anyone would look good, probably better than her.

"What's up, Velvs?" Yang asked as she adjusted the single strap on her dress.

The rabbit faunus's expression suddenly dropped and she looked very worried. "Uh, Coco is trying to redecorate, again..." Ruby gave out an aggravated groan. She and Blake had spent an entire day setting up the cliff side and now it was being ruined by the dressmaker. Before she could say or do anything, her sister walked over to her and patted her shoulder, the whirr of mechanics in her arm filled her ear as Yang smiled.

"I got this, Rubes. You just relax" She said as she walked past her and left with Velvet to undo the damage her team leader had caused. With it being so close to the time, everything needed to be perfect, if only for Weiss. She was currently trying to think of anything else that could got wrong when something collided with her leg. Looking down, she saw a mess of thick, bright red hair and a pair of bright, sparkling blue eyes. The freckles on his cheeks squished together as he grinned widely at her.

"Auntie Ruby!" Anemone Arc said brightly, still unable to properly pronounce her name, making it sound like 'Woo-by'

"Hey Andy!" Ruby said with a grin as she bent over to pick up the five year old child. He laughed as he was hoisted into the air and held by her strong arms. He was dressed up in a simple suit, minus his shoes. "Where's your dad?" She asked just as Jaune came running past the room, only to stop and walk towards them, blowing out a breath while holding a pair of tiny shoes for his son to wear.

"Thanks for the assist" Jaune laughed as he slipped the shoes onto Anemone's feet and Ruby gently handed the child back. "I think we're just about ready" He said as he brushed some messy red hair out of his face and smiled at Ruby. "Ready?" Ruby took deep breaths and nodded before the two of them began to leave the house through the back door. Through the back, several people were standing around chatting with tables set up with drinks and such.

While they both agreed just close friends and family, the amount of people they considered close was much bigger than they had anticipated. General Ironwood was wearing his dress military uniform while chatting with Headmaster Ozpin, Glynda was scolding Qrow for having three flasks. The remaining members of Team CVFY were already heading down the path towards the cliff side as Pyrrha walked up and smiled. She was wearing a long red dress and her signature crown that she never went without.

Pyrrha smiled as she took her son and began to walk with everyone else towards where the ceremony was going to be taking place. A short walk through the trees that were cleared of Grimm weeks prior just in case, while over a dozen trained Huntsmen and Huntresses could handle a few wayward Grimm, Ruby would rather they did not have to. Arriving at the cliff side, dispite seeing it a few times, the setup still took her breath away.

The beaten path lead all the way up to her mother's grave stone. Just before it was a large white lattice arch with red and white roses poking out in the holes. Several people were already seated including Blake's parents, the members of team SSSN, Flint and Neon from Atlas who were talking to some other people. Ruby was surprised that Blake got Sun to button up his shirt, even if he did not use the tie properly. She said hi to everyone as Ren started to get people into their seats.

As she walked up to her place up at the front where the officiant they got was already waiting. And older gentleman with a balding head wearing a black suite with a white collar. Waiting next to him was the second groomsmen she chosen, though groomsmen was probably the wrong term for that. "Hello Ruby!" Penny said with a large grin on her face, practically vibrating where she stood. "I'm wedding party ready" She gave a quick salute as she smiled.

"I'm so glad you could make it Penny" Ruby said as she hugged her friend. "You remember your role?" She asked the ginger haired woman. While Penny being a robot is an open secret after the events at Beacon almost ten years ago, she had been making upgrades to herself, appearing to age with the rest of her friends. Ruby only learned that Penny could make the wedding only a few days ago, her father wanted to keep her at Atlas but she was determined to go, forcing General Ironwood to come so he could keep watch over her.

"Yes! I'm to help people to their seats and I have written a speech about my friend Ruby!" She said as she produced a folded piece of paper from inside of her black and red suit with a red rose pinned to the chest. Ruby grimaced slightly, she was really glad that Penny had done research into her role as a groomsmen, person... But she had gotten the wrong idea.

"Well, people are just going to kinda seat themselves, since their both our friends, and the family are pretty much already seated" Ruby said as she looked over and saw her father sitting down in the front, while General Ironwood sat down across the aisle. Everyone else was seated wherever the wanted, there was only two rows so everyone could easily see the actual ceremony. "And the speech actually goes to the best man..." She gestured to Jaune, who was standing next to her.

"Oh..." Penny looked between Jaune and and the speech she had written down and held it out for Jaune.

"Haha, thanks Penny, But I've already written my own..." His voice tapered off as his eyes scanned the page she had written. After a moment, Jaune looked around and gently folded the speech before depositing it into his own jacket. "Thank you" He said finally as he caught Ruby's eyes and she simply shook her head. "What, it's better than mine..." Ruby rolled her eyes as Ren walked up to them and offered a small smile.

"I think everyone is ready, except Nora. Lily needed to use the bathroom" The stoic man said as he looked over and smiled more. Coming down the path was a very pregnant Nora, who was more or less waddling towards the seats wearing a pink sundress, hand in hand with a little girl with long black hair with an orange stripe of hair coming down past her left eye. Lily Valkyrie was about the same age as Anemone, she was wearing a traditional Mistrali dress, similar to what Ren wore in school, except that it was pink instead of green.

Once she was seated, Yang waved at them, signalling the start of the ceremony. Ren squeezed Ruby's shoulder as everyone left her to take their positions and she took a deep breath to calm herself. This was it, no turning back now. She stood in her place and had to force herself to not bounce nervously as someone pressed play on their scroll, which was connected to speakers, and the music began to play.

First, Penny and Jaune walked down towards them, splitting off to their spots, standing next Ruby. Next was Yang who walked down and stood in her spot. Next came Lily with a basket in one hand and throwing fist fulls of rose petals onto the ground until she took her spot next to Ren in the front. Next was Blake, The cat faunus had been spending the entire day with Weiss to prepare her for this. She was wearing the same blue, one strap dress as Yang and had her ears out to the open. When she began her relationship with her sister, Blake had said she was done hiding and now wore her ears open with pride.

Separating to stand in their spots, the music changed and the next sight stole Ruby's breath straight out of her chest.

Weiss walked into the opening, a flowing white dress beautifully crafted by the skilled hands of Coco. The dress looked like fresh snow on a crisp winter morning. Perfect. The dress covered all the way up to her chest, and she wore elbow length gloves, leaving her shoulders bare as she walked down towards her, arm in arm with her sister. When they arrived at the altar, Winter handed her sister off to Ruby, then took her seat next to General Ironwood. Winter discreetly dabbed at her eyes with a tissue while Taiyang was just barely holding it together.

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today..." The officiant began the usual speech he did for weddings as Ruby stared into Weiss's blue eyes. A blush had settling on her cheeks as she smiled back at Ruby, she noticed that she was wearing the bare minimum amount of makeup, but she did not need any, she was as perfect as the day she met her. To think that just over ten years ago, Ruby met this woman by accidentally blowing her up, and now, she was marrying her.

The dress she was was much more detailed now she was up close. The white fabric had intricate snowflake, roses and vines going up and down the entire length of the dress. How Coco managed that, she had no idea. Weiss wore her hair down and was lightly curled at the end, a few curls pooled over her shoulder and Ruby had to resist the urge to run her hands through the silky soft snow white hair she had. Her ears had small, perfect sapphires dangling from them and a larger stone graced her neck.

"Ruby?" The officiator gently tapped her shoulder. She snapped back into reality and looked around. She did not know when she zoned out and just stared at Weiss, but obviously it was long enough to draw attention. "You had you had your own vows you wanted to say?"

"Oh! Right, sorry" There was a chorus of chuckles as Ruby tried to fine the paper where she wrote down her vows to Weiss in her jacket. Pulling out the folded piece of paper finally, she opened it up and looked at her own sloppy writing. Many lines were crossed out or erased entirely. She had spent almost an entire week of writing the vows, but she finally figured out exactly what to say to Weiss.

"Weiss. Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm doing" She laughed lightly as everyone joined in. "In all the years I've known you, through everything we've been through, you have always been by my side. Through Initiation at Beacon, the Vital festival, the Fall and the Reclamation of Vale, I have never woke up in the morning worried if what I was doing was right, because you were there to point me in the right direction. Always one step ahead of the game and a forever dependable member of the team and someone who never let me down.

"I remember the day we first kissed. It wasn't romantic or set up, it just happened. We had just cleared out the residential district, and we were just sitting on a bench in a park as others moved equipment around. We were both exhausted from the fighting and just needed to sit. Your head was on my shoulder and we were leaning on each other, I don't know what came over me, but I just kissed you, just like that. At first I thought you were going to scream and yell at me, but you kissed me back. It was that moment I knew, that I wanted to spend my life with you.

"I promise to be by your side no matter what, in sickness and health and all that junk. I'd move the kingdom to the ocean, build you a mountain, repair the moon! if it meant keeping you by my side. I love you more than life itself and I promise no matter what happens, no matter who or what tries to tear us apart, I will always come for you. This, I promise"

As Ruby spoke, she saw Weiss constantly blinking away tears as people gathered to witness were having a hard time containing their emotions, Nora and her father less so than others. When everyone had calmed down, it was Weiss's turn to speak her vows. She took a deep breath and gently slipped her fingers between Ruby's before speaking.

"Ruby, when I first met you, I thought you were childish, loud, brash and irresponsible. I hated you for everyone of your faults, but as I spent more time with you and your sister, I learned that I didn't hate you, I was jealous of you. Jealous because every thing you were, I wasn't allowed to be. You taught me how to look at the world and take things at face value. Your friendship was never about gaining the upper hand on some deal in the far future, you were simply being a friend.

"You were my first, real friend. Someone who liked me for me, not because of my status or who my father was. You broke through years of training to see me who I really was, someone who needed to be loved. And you gave that love so unconditionally, I was hesitant at first, but you kept pushing and pushing, and I couldn't stop you or how you made me feel. When we kissed that first time, it felt so right that I didn't know what correct afterwards. In the years we spent after all our hard work, my love for you has never been stronger.

"So, here I stand, before our family and friends, ready to spend the rest of my life with you. Deciding that no matter what happens to us, that I will always be with you. In sickness and in health. For rich or poor, for better or worse. I will forever be by your side, because I realised something that day you asked me to marry you.

"Wow. That Ruby girl is really, really cool... And I want to be her wife"

Ruby could not stop her grin if she tried. It was her turn to blink away tears of happiness as the crowd tried to stop their tears, squeezing Weiss's hand and smiled as she sniffled to try and maintain a quickly deteriorating composure. With a gesture from the officiant, Jaune waved down the isle and Anemone began to walk down towards them, a white pillow in his hand with the two wedding rings tied to it.. He nervously shuffled towards them, Lily next to him until they reached the front. The little boy resented it to Ruby, who thanked him with a smile and gently took the rings from the pillow and watched as they ran back to their parents.

Ruby took Weiss's hand and spread her fingers lightly as she slipped the wedding ring onto her finger. She had chosen a thick, white gold ring with a red stripe running through the middle. Once it was in place, Ruby smiled up at Weiss and spoke softly. "With this ring, I thee wed" Weiss took her ring from Ruby's hand and slipped it onto her own finger. The cold metal sent shivers down her spine and shocks through her heart. Her band was red coloured gold ring with a stripe of white gold going through the middle, the opposite of Weiss's.

"With this ring, I thee wed"

"By the power vested in me by the Kingdom of Vale, I declare you are now bound together, physically and spiritually, destinies entwined for now and till death do you part. You may kiss your wife" The man said with a smile and Ruby wasted no time leaning over and capturing Weiss's lips with her own. Weiss's lips were just as soft as they always were, a faint hint of peppermint from the lip chap she always used. As they kissed, a gust of wind came over them and cast their hair over each other as everyone applauded and cheered, a more perfect moment could not have been crafted by the gods themselves.

But the wind continued, and soon a sound of heavy engines drowned out the clapping that quickly petered off. Breaking the kiss, Ruby held her hair back as she looked up and saw a high class bullhead coming in for a landing. It was stark white with the SDC logo printed along the sides. "You've got to be fucking kidding me..." Yang said in the back as they all watched as the air vehicle landed in front of them. The ramp descended from the hull, just barely missing her mother's gravestone.

From inside, two men wearing dark suits, dark glasses and ear pieces walked out and stood on either side of the ramp, standing guard as Jacques Schnee walked out in his all white suit, blue shirt and lighter blue tie. A large moustache covering his lips as cold blue eyes took in the scene before him. Slowly, he slipped his hands behind his back as his eyes settled onto Weiss wearing her wedding dress. His eyes narrowed as the angry expression his daughter was giving him.

"So there I was, enjoying my morning coffee when my secretary asked if I wanted to send a congratulatory card to me daughter" Weiss's father began as he looked away from her, seemingly more interested in fixing his cuff. "For what, I asked. When she replied that Weiss, heir to all that I own, was getting married. I'm sure you could understand my shock that I, her own father, did not even receive an invitation to my own daughter's wedding.

"So I rushed over as quickly as I could so I could bare witness to the new level of low she had fallen to" His eyes then fell onto Ruby, she could feel another cold shiver go down her spine, but this was not one of excitement, this was one of uncertainty of what this man might do now. "While I cannot stop the progression of the world, I at least assumed you would find someone who wasn't such a low pedigree" He then looked over to Blake, his eyes lingering on her faunus trait atop her head. "Or be in the company of such... Degenerates"

Blake's arm shot out to stop Yang from pushing her metal arm into the man's face. He simply looked away, unafraid of the heat rising from the woman to his left as he stared back at Weiss. "So, what do you have to say for yourself."

Weiss was silent for a few moments before speaking. "You don't own me" She began simply. "All my life, you've never been there for me. All my performances, all of the lessons you paid for, you were never there. You demanded perfection when you weren't there to witness all that I had accomplished. Now, I have something that I'm proud of, something I made for myself, and you hate it because it wasn't what you wanted. Well guess what"

She then walked up to him, stared up into his face as she lifted her left hand and all but shoved the wedding band in front of his face. "This is my freedom, from you and a heritage you stole away from my mother! This is my wedding, and you are not invited. Leave!" Several things then happened in quick secession and Ruby barely followed what had happened.

First. Jacques's arm snapped up and cracked Weiss across the face with the back of his hand. Next, a beat passed as the information was processed in everyone's minds. Then, the sounds of a dozen weapons all being pulled out and aimed at the same time filled the air. Ruby looked over and saw that everyone was standing out of their seats, barrels aimed down the aisle. Nora had the children with her, pulled to the back as the melee fighters all crowd around the altar and the ranged ones took up stances behind them.

Coco was precariously perched above everyone one, standing on two chairs as her massive gatling gun was spinning while Velvet had a hard light copy of Nora's warhammer in her hands, wearing a very Valkyrie like grin on her face. Her semblance was bleeding Nora's personality into her own as she gripped the mimic weapon tightly, waiting for the order to attack. Ruby noticed that Ironwood reached into his jacket and pulled out a round, silver flask and discreetly handed it to Winter, who in turn handed it to Qrow, who then downed the entire contents in a few quick gulps.

Knowing what was about to happen, Ruby stepped forward and pushed Weiss behind her and stared at the man before her, Ruby's new father-in-law. "Leave. Before something bad happens to you" Ruby said as intimidating as she could. The man simply narrowed his eyes at her and stared into her silver eyes.

"Is that a threat?"

"No" She said happily. "Sometimes, bad things just happen..."

His eyes turned back to Weiss, who was rubbing her pink cheek lightly, looking more disappointed than angry. "Listen here young lady, I don't give a damn about what you want! This isn't about you. This is about the Schnee family name and your apparent insistence on dragging it through the mud! Remember this while you're living your new life." He then turned and went to walk back up the ramp and back onto the expensive, private bullhead. Ruby smiled lightly as she saw a black bird enter just before the door was sealed.

From where they were standing, they saw as Weiss's father took a seat at the window and looked out at them with a cold stare. It only lasted a few seconds before he was suddenly attacked by an angry crow. The last images of her father-in-law was one of horror and disgust as he tried to defend himself from a random bird attack, unable to escape from inside the air vehicle as it took off back to Atlas, a ten hour flight. Looking back at her wife, Ruby gently kissed her cheek and smiled into her eyes.

"Welcome to the family..." Weiss with with a sigh as she smiled back at Ruby and shared another kiss, free of interruption. They still had a cake to cut and a wedding to finish.

Out in the forest, far away from the event, a lone person was laying on a large rock. They watched the whole wedding through the scope of a sniper rifle not unlike the one Ruby Rose owned and used. They wore a long, white cloak with the hood covering their face, as people began to pack up and make their way back to the house. Slowly, they moved the cross hair across the scene, they found openings between the trees and hovered on Blake's chest, the woman unaware that her life could end with a single pull of a trigger.

Next, their sights hovered over the blonde with long hair and metal arm. Their aim moved once more and found the blushing bride. It went between resting on her heart and raised up to her head, where she was seen talking to her wife. Finally, the thin black cross found Ruby Rose, the object of their anger and pain. Their finger tensed and pressed against the trigger. Their breathing smoothed out as they prepared for the shot, only to force themselves to pull away.

"No, not yet. Destiny will find you Ruby Rose, just as it found me all those years ago..."

They lowered the sniper, and got up from their post, but not before looking back at the happy couple with hate filled, bright silver eyes.


End file.
